Disposable head covering garment

ABSTRACT

This application is directed to a surgical hood which is made from an inexpensive, nonwoven fabric and may be discarded after a single use. The hood comprises three separate pieces, a top, and two side pieces. The lower edge of each side piece has an elongated area which is of sufficient length to be used as a tie to secure the hood in place. The strength of the nonwoven fabric is in the direction of the ties coming off the lower portion of the hood.

United States Fatent. 1

Bird et a1.

[ 1 Mar. 25, 1975 1 DISPOSABLE HEAD COVERING GARMENT [75] Inventors: William 11. Bird, Lavallette; Richard F. Caffrey, Maplewood, both of NJ.

[73] Assignee: Johnson & Johnson, New

Brunswick, NJ.

[22] Filed: Mar. 29, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 346,232

[52] US. Cl 2/202, 2/204, 2/200 [51] Int. Cl A42b l/04 [58] Field of Search 2/202, 203, 204, 205, 68,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,775,409 9/1930 Russell 2/6 2,726,398 12/1955 Cooper 2/68 2,983,925 5/1961 Gettinger 2/204 3,296,582 l/l967 lde 340/5 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATlONS 476,395 8/1951 Canada 2/203 513,032 5/1955 Canada 2/171 892,262 3/1962 United Kingdom 128/1462 Primary E.raminerWerner l-l. Schroeder Assistant E.\"aminerPeter Nerbun [57] ABSTRACT This application is directed to a surgical hood which is made from an inexpensive, nonwoven fabric and may be discarded after a single use. The hood comprises three separate pieces, a top, and two side pieces. The lower edge of each side piece has an elongated area which is of sufficient length to be used as a tie to secure the hood in place. The strength of the nonwoven fabric is in the direction of the ties coming off the lower portion of the hood.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 1 DISPOSABLE HEAD COVERING GARMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The operating room staff, i.e., those present in the operating room during surgical procedures, generally wear caps to totally enclose their hair. This is considered to be necessary in order to maintain the sterile condition of the operating room. Particles of various types of foreign matter such as dust, dirt, etc. are carried on various parts of the body including the hair. These particles carry bacteria which can be-transmitted from the operating room staff to the patient. The use of caps prevents these particles from falling onto the surgical patient during an operation. For many years these caps have beeri ih ade and modeled iii a fashion similar to a military garrison cap which covered the upper portion of the head generally above the ears. This was considered to be adequate to prevent particles from falling from the head of the surgeon during an operating procedure.

Mens hairstyles have changed significantly over the last few years. Hair is being worn longer, and the wear- ,ing of long sideburns and beards is commonplace. The

previously employed design of surgical caps is inadequate to completely enclose these new hairstyles and thus does not prevent the transmission of bacteria. The previously employed caps were usually made from woven fabrics such as linen or muslin. These caps were reusable and were thoroughly cleaned and sterilized after each use. The processing of linen or muslin fabric articles to clean and sterilize them after use is a time consuming and therefore expensive task. For that reason, in recent years there has been a substantial increase in the availability and usage of single use disposable garments. Applicants have developed an inexpensive, single use head covering or surgical hood that can be used to completely cover the head and hair of surgeons. This hood covering or hood is adequate to completely enclose the hair of the surgeon when the hair is long or where the surgeon has relatively large sideburns.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring now to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the surgical hood of the present invention secured on the head.

FIG. 2 is a side view of one of the side panels of the hood, the other panel being a mirror image of the one shown.

FIG. 3 shows the general configuration of the top or crown of the hood.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows the hood of the present invention as it is worn by the wearer. The hood is composed of a top piece or crown which is secured to side panels 11 and 12 by sewing or adhesive bonding. The panels 11 and 12 as well as the top 10 are made from an oriented, nonwoven fabric 22 which has considerably more strength in the machine direction than in the cross machine direction. The fabrics are employed in the hood in such manner that the patterns for the crown and the side portions are made with the machine direction or strength of the fabric placed in the direction of the arrow 13 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Each of the side panels 11 and 12 has a top portion 14 to be secured to the crown 10 to form the top of the hood. Each of the side panels has a back portion 15 which is secured to the back portion of the other panel to form the back of the hood. The top front portion 16 of each panel is secured to' the top front portion of the other panel to form the front of the hood which covers the forehead of the wearer. An opening in the front of the hood is formed by the front sides 17 of the side panels. The lower edge 18 of the side panel extends outwardly beyond the front of the hood to form the ties 19. The ties should be of sufficient length so they may be crossed under the chin of the wearer and tied at the back of the neck as shown in FIG. 1.

The design of the-hood of the present invention allows a single size to fit the great majority of wearers. In general, the crown pattern is a tear drop shape having a width of about 6 inches and a length of about 12 inches. Each of the side panels is about 12 inches in height from the bottom 18 to the top 14. The distance from back 15 to the top front portion 16 is about 13 inches. The length from the back 15 to the opening 17 is about 9 to 10 inches. The ties 19 extend about 15 to 16 inches beyond the opening 17 of the hood and are about 1 inch high. In a flat configuration, the front portion 16 extends beyond the open area 17 by a distance of about 3% to about 2 /2 inches. This allows the forehead of the wearer to be covered and the hood to be tightly drawn against the forehead. It should be understood that these dimensions are only representative and not exact and could be varied slightly without changing the function of the hood.

The hood is assembled by stitching or adhesively bonding the side panels 11 and 12 to the crown 10. The back edges 15 of each of the side panels 11 and 12 are then stitched or adhesively bonded to each other. The front portion 16 of each of the side panels also are stitched or adhesively bonded to each other. It has been found to be advantageous to apply stitching 23 to the fabric around the open area 17 in the front of the hood. This allows the transmission of force from the ties 19 to the open area 17 to pull the fabric around the open area tightly against the cheeks of the wearer. The stitching is particularly advantageous in the high stress areas of the hood. These areas are between the tie 19 and the open area 17 and between the open area 17 and the front portion 16.

The nonwoven fabric from which the hood is made should have sufficient elasticity to prevent binding of the ears when the hood is drawn tight. However, a cross cut 21 may be placed in each of the side panels 11 and 12 to prevent the hood from binding the ears.

The nonwoven fabric 22 may be of any fiber composition and construction that meets the requirements set forth herein. A carded fabric made from rayon fibers and drawn after the formation of the carded web has been found to meet the fabric requirements for the product of the present invention.

The nonwoven fabric 22 must be of sufficient strength to allow the hood to be drawn tightly around the head without tearing the fabric. As the force necessary to securely fix the hood in place is applied in the direction of the length of the ties 19, the strength of the fabric must be in the direction of the ties 19. We have found that the strength of the fabric should be in the range of 20 to 30 pounds per three ply 1 inch width in the machine direction or the tie direction and at 2 to 3 pounds per three ply 1 inch width in the cross machine direction. A carded nonwoven fabric weighing from 480 to about 600 grains per square yard and print bonded with an acrylic binder has been found to be suitable to fabricate the hood of the present invention.

In addition to the physical properties mentioned above, the fabric must also meet flammability requireportion, the back edges of each of the panels being secured to the back edge of the other panel, the elongated portions of the side panels being of sufficient length to overlap each other under the chin of the wearer and be secured at the back of the neck of the wearer, the material of the cap being an oriented nonwoven fabric which has a machine direction strength of at least 20 pounds per three ply 1 inch width and a cross machine direction strength of 2 to 3 pounds per three ply 1 inch width, with the machine direction strength of the fabric being in the direction of the length of the elongated lower edge.

2. The hood of claim 1 in which the nonwoven fabric is a carded rayon fabric.

2;;33 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3, 7 ,5 6 Dated March 5, 975

Inventor) William H. Bird and Richard F. Caffrey It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In Column 1, line 39, "hood covering" should read head covering In Column 2, line 26, 2 1/2 should read 3 1/2 Signed and sealed this 17th day of June 1975.

(SEAL) Attest:

C. IIARSHALL DANN RUTP C. MASON Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer and Trademarks 

1. A surgical hood made from a nonwoven fabric comprising a crown portion which is generally a teardrop shape, two side panels, each having a top edge, a back edge, and an elongated lower edge, the top edge of each of the side panels being secured to the crown portion, the back edges of each of the panels being secured to the back edge of the other panel, the elongated portions of the side panels being of sufficient length to overlap each other under the chin of the wearer and be secured at the back of the neck of the wearer, the material of the cap being an oriented nonwoven fabric which has a machine direction strength of at least 20 pounds per three ply 1 inch width and a cross machine direction strength of 2 to 3 pounds per three ply 1 inch width, with the machine direction strength of the fabric being in the direction of the length of the elongated lower edge.
 2. The hood of claim 1 in which the nonwoven fabric is a carded rayon fabric. 